Car sickness / headaches

[thyme4change]

I've always been a good traveler and been great in the car, but now that I have been an adult so long, I have to sit in the front seat or I get a massive headache.  I can't read anything in the car (I used to be able to) - even if I try to do something for a short period of time, it makes my head hurt.  I don't throw up or get really nauseous, but I do feel "oogy" (for a lack of a better term.)

Can you retrain your brain so this won't happen?  Would I have to have someone drive me around while I sit  in the backseat and read? How many hours do you think it would take?  Or do I just have to accept this?

[steph08]

The same thing happened to me. I still can't read in the car, but I can sit in the backseat as long as I spend most of the time looking out the window. That tricks my brain into thinking I am still in the front seat. 

[mollyanna58]

I used to get carsick as a child. Then I found that if I wore my glasses (which I did not wear full time back then), I didn't get sick. Something to do with being able to better focus on things outside the car.

[milee]

No idea if it's based on scientific fact (does the inner ear really change and make one more likely to get nauseous as one ages?), but the Modern Family episode where Phil finds out he can no longer ride roller coasters comes to mind...

[Deleted]

Phil just had the flu in that episode  

That said I have a harder time with motion rides than I used to. But I've alway had issues of some kind. 

I do need to sit in the front most of the time. Even then sometimes I get sick. I need food in my stomach, and obviously fewer windy roads is better. If we are on a highway I can read directions. I cannot turn around.  Audiobooks are my friend.

[Shooby]

Take a dramine a half hour before. And, don't read. Look out the window at the sky.

[bookkeeper]

Dramamine will make me very sleepy. I too suffer from motion sickness. The best way to fight it is by eating a little something before I get in the back seat.  I like to eat a bagel or toast before a plane flight. Carbs seem to work better than a heavy meal for me.

Traveling down a mountain in the dark, I realized I don't get car sick after the sun goes down. Probably because I can't see the countryside whizzing by. I always need to look straight ahead when traveling curvy roads whether I am in the front or the back seat in the day time.  Altitude is a big player for me in the motion sickness game.  I try to drink a lot of water when we go up in elevation.

I have always been this way. I rode the school bus for many years growing up and held many conversations with the bus driver. If I sat in the back of the bus, I would have been a puker for sure.

[tractor]

My wife and teenage son both get car sick, we haven't been able to find a real solution. The "puke" kit has been used many times. We keep one in each car.

They do seem to mitigate the effects by wearing sea bands, if they remember to bring them along.

[TheHaitian]

Mar 15, 2015 0:26:53 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I've always been a good traveler and been great in the car, but now that I have been an adult so long, I have to sit in the front seat or I get a massive headache.  I can't read anything in the car (I used to be able to) - even if I try to do something for a short period of time, it makes my head hurt.  I don't throw up or get really nauseous, but I do feel "oogy" (for a lack of a better term.)

Can you retrain your brain so this won't happen?  Would I have to have someone drive me around while I sit  in the backseat and read? How many hours do you think it would take?  Or do I just have to accept this?

So you only get the symptoms when you are the passenger in the car but not the driver? Or both?

[Deleted]

I don't get sick when I drive. That's pretty common. Driving requires forward facing in the front seat. 

[Lizard Queen]

Mar 15, 2015 0:26:53 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I've always been a good traveler and been great in the car, but now that I have been an adult so long, I have to sit in the front seat or I get a massive headache.  I can't read anything in the car (I used to be able to) - even if I try to do something for a short period of time, it makes my head hurt.  I don't throw up or get really nauseous, but I do feel "oogy" (for a lack of a better term.)

Can you retrain your brain so this won't happen?  Would I have to have someone drive me around while I sit  in the backseat and read? How many hours do you think it would take?  Or do I just have to accept this?

I feel much the same way when I try to read in a car.  I have managed to read a little without any bad consequences lately.  The differences: 1. different car--maybe better suspension?  2. I now wear glasses.  I don't which helps, if it's either or both.  I still try not to push it too much though.

[Jaguar]

Now I hate being in the front seat, give me the back seat anyday.

[Deleted]

Lizard Queen makes a good point about better suspension. The flex is a much smoother ride than my friend's van... Although could be her driving too... I always seem to get sick if I ride with her... Or another friend in her car... Interesting, wondering what it is now...

[Shooby]

Mine comes and goes. Not sure why. But, some days if I don't feel up to snuff, then I just choose to drive instead.

[Deleted]

I know food is a big determiner for me. I can't have an empty stomach.

[thyme4change]

Mar 15, 2015 9:16:02 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Mar 15, 2015 0:26:53 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I've always been a good traveler and been great in the car, but now that I have been an adult so long, I have to sit in the front seat or I get a massive headache.  I can't read anything in the car (I used to be able to) - even if I try to do something for a short period of time, it makes my head hurt.  I don't throw up or get really nauseous, but I do feel "oogy" (for a lack of a better term.)

Can you retrain your brain so this won't happen?  Would I have to have someone drive me around while I sit  in the backseat and read? How many hours do you think it would take?  Or do I just have to accept this?

So you only get the symptoms when you are the passenger in the car but not the driver? Or both?

Not when I drive, and everything else is manageable - but it is the reading.  I would like to re-train myself to be able to read - at least a little bit.  Like, can I look at a map, or find the address of where we are going, or double check the time we have to be there.  I don't need to read the small print version of War and Peace - just be able to pull out my phone, or paper and work my way through an easy question.

[swamp]

I have the same problem.

I even get dizzy doing flip turns in the pool now

Getting old sucks

[Abby Normal]

I usually sleep when we are traveling any distance.  I think it's my brains automatic shutdown procedure against car sickness.  I'm usually ok to be the front seat passenger.  But there are a couple roads in our area that will make me sick even then.  I have to be the driver.  If I'm not, I my head gets really "oogy" and I can't think clearly for a few hours. 

[Artemis Windsong]

Use pressure bands on your wrists.

My GrGrS was horribly car sick and that helped him.

I have also heard putting a newspaper on your skin next to your stomach works.

I used to have one with duct tape but forgot where it's put on the abdomen.

Some people have success with ginger. Capsule, tea or ginger ale.

Motion sickness is pretty miserable.

[tskeeter]

Interesting, Molly's comment about wearing glasses.  Could motion sickness later in life be associated with failing vision?  Another possibility could be sinus problems affecting the ears.  Could plugged ears affect equilibrium and cause motion sickness because you can't constantly adjust to the motion of the car?  As an aging tie in, as I've gotten older, I have developed chronic sinus issues that affects my ears.  Wonder if that's happening to other folks, too?  

[Peace77]

Have you had your eyes checked recently?
When my prescription changed a lot, I was getting bad headaches until I got new glasses.

I second eating on trips, ginger tea, candied ginger, ginger cookies, and Sea Bands.

[violagirl]

Neurologist told me motion sickness and migraines are related. Try increasing your serotonin levels.